Helena GranströmLäs more columns of the:
Helena GranströmFölj
Our culture's relationship with animals, is clearly ambivalent. We will enter a name and a home to care for the animals we are closest to us, at the same time, we are in the brutal exploits of others and reading the stories about the bears, the rabbits and the wolves and for our children, we rob him of all contact with the real, wild, nature, protecting, and reaches out for the cute isbjörnsungen, at the same time, we destroy its counterparts, and with the complete confidence to take the right to turn it into a museum.

At the bottom of this double-edged approach, there is a persistent refusal to admit to any other bias than that of the human; a refusal that is also a prerequisite for us to be able to proceed with our non-human environment in which we are doing. Darwin may have a kick of the idea of man's god-given individuality, but that he was unable to upset the belief of her superiority: man Is an animal among others, she is still the only one who can relate to the future, to accommodate the complex feelings and emotions, and even imagine themselves, to their own demise.

And, of course, the ultimate proof of man's sovereignty, We have more than one language. It is something that separates us from the animals is our ability for symbolic thinking and communication skills.

Or is it?

in Her case, this book is a review of the research into animal language, communication.

Hardly, if you can believe it, the Dutch author and artist: Eva Meijer , whose book, ”the Animals ' language. It is a secret of the call of the natural world,” is now available in English. Correct, and the dull tone of the book presents the Meijer's here, tirelessly, such as for example, that the opposite is true: Some of the squids to communicate with the system of the color signals, which can be divided into categories corresponding to our parts of speech, and of a grammar.

Chimpanzees use a varied set of gestures, and the röstljud with a specific meaning. The crows have a lot of precision and a wide repertoire of meaningful gestures, it can recall the specific människoansikten for years, and hold the wake for their dead. But playing like this.

the Sri lankan elephant.Photo by: < / b> SHUTTERSTOCK
Meijer's is trained as a philosopher and, in her case, this book is a review of the research into animal language, communication. It is a matter of the relative yields, and their efforts, in order to make himself or herself understood in relation to the people " (the efforts, which are often the consequence of the fact that the same people denying them contact with their counterparts). Her projects are, in other words, to find a scientific access to the allegedly impregnable stronghold which is the human språkligheten form.

Among other things, through a critical review of a given set of criteria for what is considered to be that of a language: for example, it is not only our own inability to perceive and interpret the color patterns and chemical signals, which is based on the assumption that such phrases are not able to provide the funds for the complex symbolic form of communication?

Meijer, reflects the stages in which the animal has acted in a way that is clearly indicative of a sense of right and wrong.

this is Almost as central to the concept of human unicitet as a language, is the notion of the special nature of her relationship to her own death. Also at the forum, mr Meijer, in a number of case studies, which should lead us to question our assumptions, in addition to crow – like ravens, magpies and many other birds to keep the assembly of the dead members of the group – may be mentioned the elephant, who not only watches over and caressing the dying person's relatives, but also to bury them in the soil and in the leaves after they have died, and is returning to the scene of their death for many years to come.

< Makakapa waiting to be test animals.Photo by: < / b> JOCKE BERGLUND
do Not have the ability for empathy and moral choices to be made, another trait that has traditionally been considered unique to humans, appears in no significant way to differentiate ourselves from the animals, at least not in a way that speaks to us. Meijer reflect the stages in which the animal has acted in a way that is clearly indicative of a sense of right and wrong, and she tells us about the monkeys that återbördat the lost children to their parents, and tried to help the injured birds to fly, and to mention the fact that the individuals of many species regularly help each other out to get food, and the protection and comfort of the sick or injured members of the pack.

Furthermore, she reports that, ”rats and rhesus macaques is refusing to eat and if that means that a artfrände may give you an electric shock.” Ponder on this last sentence, and consider what it reveals about the compassion of humanity, which is articulated to it.

As the author himself says that we should not get caught up in the question of whether or not animal communication is a language, but rather to try to understand what they are actually saying.

this is A weakness of the Meijers of the book is, perhaps, that a conflict exists between the language of man, and it is telling the world that they are systematically working in order to be safe, is never allowed to be quite as painful as it is. Nor does the testimony of the author's examples of successful co-existence and communication of the artgränserna on some of the deeper insights: it is mentioned the stray dogs that ride the subway, and the rabbits are raised indoors, in the home of an eccentric lady. However, civilisationskritisk analysis, it can be argued, nor does the Meijers in the magazine.

the Balance of the text of a lot of fairly detailed example, but to the sheer amount of changes to my look on the world: There is so much going on in it, which I did not perceive, or are able to interpret. These processes are the formal and linguistic nature or not, must be considered of secondary importance. As the author himself says that we should not get caught up in the question of whether or not animal communication is a language, but rather to try to understand what they are actually saying.
non-fiction
EVA MEIJER

Animal language

Translation: Johanna Hedenberg.

the Weyler publishing house, 220 pp.

to View merVisa off
See also Helena Granströms and appreciated the lyrics of the so-called " five-minute method.

Helena Granström is the author and co-workers Express their Culture. Her most recent book is the Standard.